Harvard’s Star Trading Desk...(BW)

Can Harvard Recapture Its Investment Magic?

• Endowment CEO Stephen Blyth departs fund after 18 months
• Two former Goldman partners who guided equity plan also left

Across the Charles River from Harvard Yard, the stewards of the university’s vast fortune were about to embark on an ambitious plan: they wanted to recreate a Wall Street-style hedge fund to trade stocks.

After years of missteps, controversy and even crisis, Harvard Management Corp., which oversees the university’s $37.6 billion endowment, began assembling a new corps of equity traders and analysts in 2014, in hopes of recapturing a part of the investment magic that had once made the fund the envy of the world.

Only now, just two years later, that plan has collapsed. Stephen Blyth, 48, the former bond trader behind that effort, stepped down as HMC’s chief executive Wednesday for personal reasons after just 18 months on the job. His resignation follows the departure in June of Michael Ryan and Robert Howard, the two former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partners he had brought in to guide the new equity strategy.

Pulled Plug

While Blyth’s exit was said to be unrelated to those of his star hires, the talk inside HMC’s offices at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston centered on why management had pulled the plug on the team so quickly amid a volatile equities market.

According to people familiar with the matter, some traders in Ryan’s group posted losses in 2015 significant enough to trigger internal temporary stop-loss orders. Ryan also lost money in a portfolio he managed. The extent of the losses is unclear, however, and came at a time when most hedge funds were struggling to beat market indexes.

But now, Harvard is once again confronting the same, uncomfortable question that has dogged it for years: why can’t the world’s richest university, for all its brains, make smarter investments?

Harvard decided to dismantle the in-house equities team after concluding that it would lean more on outside money managers “who have the resources, skill and experience,” Paul Finnegan, chairman of HMC’s board, said in a statement Wednesday.

“HMC aims to be best in class in everything that we do and regularly evaluates how we can best allocate capital to achieve this objective," said Finnegan, a co-founder of the private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners in Chicago.

Harvard declined to comment further. Ryan, an original partner at Goldman Sachs, declined to comment. He left to pursue other opportunities, according to an internal memo in June from Robert Ettl, who was named interim CEO of HMC. Howard didn’t return calls seeking comment.

The about-face is the latest in a long series of setbacks for Harvard Management, now on its sixth CEO since 2005, while struggling to generate the returns needed to sustain the university’s formidable academic and research budget. In terms of investment returns, Yale University, whose endowment is smaller, left Harvard in the dust years ago. Indeed, Harvard has lagged behind most of the eight-member Ivy League since 2011. Only Cornell University has done worse.

The new shift to rely more on external money managers represents a reversal of longtime Harvard policy of using in-house staff. “I’m really surprised they would dismantle it that quickly,” Verne Sedlacek, former chief financial officer of HMC, said of the equity team. “That’s not a good sign for what the strategy is.”

The developments shocked HMC employees. Blyth had told staff last year that new investment strategies take years to be evaluated, according to people close to the endowment. Harvard Management had also approved hiring researchers to support the group this year, the people said.

For years, Harvard Management has struggled to recapture its former glory under Jack Meyer, who successfully -- and controversially -- transformed the endowment into an elite money manager in the 1990s.

Meyer, who ran HMC from 1990 to 2005, pioneered a strategy of expanding into new asset classes such as private equity and timberland. And rather than hire outside managers, as most other universities do, he developed an internal staff that traded like a hedge fund in bond and stock markets -- earning hedge fund-like compensation. In his last decade there, he presided over average annual returns of nearly 16 percent, among the best in the business.

News that HMC was paying some staff millions of dollars annually -- some paychecks reached as high as $36 million -- set off an outcry across campus. Some alumni called the rewards excessive. Meyer left and opened his own hedge fund as did many others on his team.

After a nearly year-long search, Mohamed El-Erian, of Pimco fame, succeeded Meyer. He turned to outside managers because of the mass exodus of internal talent. But despite guiding the endowment to a one-year return of 23 percent in 2007, El-Erian quickly headed back to Pimco. Then his successor, Jane Mendillo, was upended by the financial crisis, presiding over the 27 percent loss in 2009 -- the worst in HMC’s history.

Scaled Back

The collapse squeezed Harvard hard. The university scaled back a campus expansion championed by Lawrence Summers, previously the university’s president. Perks like hot breakfasts in most dorms, free sweat suits for athletes and cookies in faculty meetings were suspended.

Blyth joined HMC in 2006 as head of international fixed income trading from Deutsche Bank. He took over as CEO in 2015 promising better returns. He saw an opportunity to keep shifting more assets from outside managers to an internal trading desk that as of last year oversaw about $9 billion of assets.

Ryan was critical to his plan. He had spent almost two decades in equity sales at Goldman before leaving in 2008 to run global securities at Credit Suisse. After less than a year, he left to co-found JAI Capital Management, a stock-focused hedge fund that was wound down after two years. He later ran another investment firm, MDR Capital Management.

Ryan brought in Howard, who had run a proprietary trading group at Goldman Sachs before decamping with his team in 2010 to KKR & Co. His group didn’t fare as well there. The private equity firm liquidated Howard’s $510 million fund in 2014, after it attracted fewer than 20 outside clients and its returns were dwarfed by the stock market, according to people familiar with the matter.

Hiring Spree

With new leadership in place, HMC hired at least nine analysts and portfolio managers, many of them with experience in so-called event-driven, long/short equity trading, according to information compiled by Bloomberg. A number had degrees from Ivy League or other top schools and came from hedge funds or other money managers. Howard oversaw a team of four people while the rest reported directly to Ryan, according to people familiar with the matter.

The timing for launching such as a strategy was not ideal. Actively-managed stock funds were struggling to distinguish themselves against market indexes. More hedge funds closed last year than opened, the first time since the financial panic in 2008, according to Hedge Fund Research.

While a number of the new portfolio managers struggled and were shut down, they were told by management that they would be free to trade again when the fiscal year began in July, according to two people familiar with the matter. Instead, eight were told in May their positions were being eliminated, cutting the new public equities team in half, the people said.

Two weeks later, Harvard President Drew Faust visited HMC to announce that Blyth had taken medical leave. Bob Ettl, the chief operating officer, stepped in. In June four more positions were eliminated as Harvard finished pulling the plug on the hedge fund strategy.

On Wednesday, the university announced Blyth was resigning, saying he would serve as a senior adviser to the HMC board and return to teaching. The CEO position would be filled by September, a person familiar with the matter said.

Some inside Harvard Management now wonder if more jobs will be on the line.

“Harvard essentially has permanent capital, so it’s unusual to see them shut down something of that size in such a short amount of time,” said Brad Balter, CEO of Balter Liquid Alternatives, which invests in hedge funds. “Clearly, it did not go as planned.”

Elon Musk Says It’s ‘Pencils Down’ for Tesla’s Model 3 (BW)

The designs are finished, and the massive—even 'romantic'—Gigafactory is spinning into motion.

It's official: The pencils are down. 

Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk told a roomful of reporters on Tuesday that the final designs for Tesla's $35,000 electric Model 3 were locked up two weeks ago, and the company is moving forward on schedule to start producing them next summer. That was just the beginning. 

Musk, 45, spoke in a room lined with windows looking out onto the grounds of what's rapidly becoming the biggest building in the world: Tesla's battery Gigafactory. When complete, the three-story building will be about the size of New York's Central Park. To put it another way, 107 football fields could fit inside its footprint. 

The diamond-shaped factory in the scrubland outside Reno, Nevada, is surrounded by thousands of wild horses that drink from construction ponds at the Gigafactory. Musk says the project inspires in him a sense of Wild West romance—which is perhaps why he opened himself up to a wide-ranging interview that covered everything from proprietary battery design to the book he's reading in his spare time. 

Here are eight big takeaways from a tour of the Gigafactory and a Q&A session with Musk, Chief Technology Officer J.B. Straubel, and Panasonic executive Yoshihiko Yamada.

1. Battery prices are falling to $100 per kilowatt hour

This fact may sound esoteric, but it's incredibly important. Batteries make up a third of the price of an electric car and are the only reason these vehicles have been more expensive than their gasoline counterparts. Musk said he's confident the company will reach a price of $100/kWh by 2020 (down from an average price of $1,200 in 2010). If he's right, the economics of electric cars will flip, as will the case for battery-backed solar power. 

Here's Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates from where the industry was headed as of February. Given Musk's optimism, it might need some revisiting. 

2. Battery costs are falling for three reasons

Cheaper materials, a shorter supply chain, and factory automation. The first is straightforward: Buying at Gigafactory scale lowers the procurement costs of raw materials such as lithium.

Supply chain costs are where some of the real breakthroughs are coming. Making a battery pack typically requires components from a dozen manufacturers. Each of those products must be built, packaged, shipped around the world, unpackaged, assembled together into a pack, repackaged, and shipped again.

That's not how things will work at the Gigafactory. Tesla plans to build a train line connecting the Gigafactory to its auto factory 240 miles away in Fremont, Calif. The Gigafactory will produce every aspect of the battery packs. Raw materials will enter the factory at one end, and finished packs will exit from the other end—on a train straight to Fremont.  

A construction worker prepares the second story floor of "Section D" for cement. Some assembly for the Model 3 drive train will take place here.

 

Photographer: Troy Harvey/Bloomberg

Automation is the final cost-cutting step. Musk says that although the factory will probably employ around 10,000 people by around 2020, most major manufacturing processes are being automated. Some of his most creative engineers were assigned the task of building what will be a more efficient factory. "They can make five times as much headway per hour than if they work on the product itself," Musk said.

Tesla has even become its own construction company and is its own licensed general contractor, having hired top architects of football stadiums, the new Apple Inc. headquarters, and the Pentagon for its Gigafactory crew.

3. The Gigafactory has already cut the fossil-fuel lines for Tesla 

Tesla cut and capped the natural gas line leading to the Gigafactory, so there's no going back to on-site fossil fuels. There's also no diesel generator for backup power. That means Tesla must rely on electricity for manufacturing processes that require heat, an unusual step for a major plant of any type. 

By the time the facility is fully up and running, the Gigafactory is meant to be net zero for energy, powered mostly by onsite solar backed with batteries.

The view inside the Gigafactory.

 

Photographer: Troy Harvey/Bloomberg

4. Tesla wants to be a power plant

Ever heard of ride sharing? How about battery sharing? Last month, I wrote about how, by pursuing cousin company SolarCity Corp., Tesla may have designs on becoming its own electricity virtual power plant, aggregating bits of power from thousands of batteries and rooftop solar systems and selling that energy back to the grid. It's a hugely lucrative market, if Tesla can crack it, and on Tuesday Musk confirmed that he intends to.

"I think we'll get into grid services," he said. 

5. Musk plans to spend and make a lot more money

Last week Musk released a sort of 10-year mission statement for Tesla, which he dubbed "The Master Plan, Part Deux." On Tuesday, he said the plan will cost tens of billions of dollars to implement. 

However, he immediately clarified that the money would be spent over many years and that, in the meantime, Model 3 sales will more than make up for it. Musk said the Model 3 may bring in revenue of $20 billion a year (which works out to 500,000 cars at $40,000 a piece), with a 25 percent profit margin. He conceded that a "modest" capital raise might yet be necessary. 

Musk describes the new battery cell size alongside Chief Technology Officer J.B. Straubel and Panasonic executive Yoshihiko Yamada.

 

Photographer: Troy Harvey/Bloomberg

6. More Gigafactories are coming

The Gigafactory schedule is being accelerated so Tesla can produce 500,000 cars in 2018, Tesla's Straubel said. Tesla's goal for 35 gWh of annual cell production by 2020 is now expected to come in two years ahead of schedule. The fully operational Gigafactory may be capable of three times the output originally forecast. 

Musk says future Gigafactories will be necessary, combining all stages of production from battery cell production to finished cars. Expect plants in Europe, China, and possibly India, he said. 

Only 14 percent of the Gigafactory is complete. Virtually everything shown here will be subsumed.

 

Photographer: Troy Harvey/Bloomberg

7. Tesla remains on Autopilot

Musk said he was “frustrated” by the media coverage from a fatal crash in Florida that happened while a driver was using Tesla's driver-assisting software. He insisted that the Autopilot technology has made the company’s cars safer.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mobileye NV, the maker of chips and software for driverless cars, said its cooperation with Tesla wouldn’t extend beyond its EyeQ3 product. Parting ways with Mobileye was “inevitable” and not surprising, Musk said. "They’ll go their path, and we’ll go ours."

8. Musk still takes time to read

Currently he's making his way through a book called, Twelve Against the Gods by William Bolitho, published in 1929. Bolitho, a South African journalist, wrote about 12 famous "adventurers"—from Alexander the Great to President Woodrow Wilson—who fought against the conventions of their times, for better or worse. It's out of print, but copies are readily available.

This wall is only temporary. It's there so construction can continue on the outside while batteries are made on the inside. 

 

Photographer: Tom Randall/Bloomberg

Entrepreneurial Excellence Seminar @ CAMACOL, Thursday July 28, 2016 1:30 pm

Florida International Trade Events- Newsletter - July 20, 2016

Florida International Trade Events Newsletter          July 20, 2016 Welcome to Enterprise Florida's International Trade Events Newsletter!                                                                    New Announcements 2016 Florida Export Resource Guide New Enterprise Florida Events Exhibiting at Electronica (Webinar) New World Bank PSLO Events Agriculture Sector Mission (Washington D.C. and Chicago) New and Updated Partner Trade Events 2016 SMART Community Exchange U.S. Global Summit (Orlando, Florida) 39th Annual Joint Meeting of the Japan-U.S. Southeast and Southeast U.S. Japan Association (Toyko, Japan) 4th Annual Private Wealth Latin America & The Caribbean Forum (Miami, Florida) Trade, Investment and Business Development Mission to Nigeria (Benin City and Abuja, Nigeria) Events are listed in order by date. Please contact individual event organizers for additional information. Programs & Services for Florida Exporters Enterprise Florida, Inc. Export Marketing Plan Program Exporting Assistance Calendar of Events Florida Export Directory Florida Export Guide Florida Trade Offices International Offices Trade Grants World Bank Opportunities  Platinum Member Sponsor   To be added to our Trade Events mailing list please click here. Announcements (New) 2016 Florida Export Resource Guide Enterprise Florida, Inc. (EFI) recently launched the 2016 Florida Export Guide in a magazine-style format with a focus on helping Florida companies connect with global markets through exporting. The Guide provides Florida small and medium-sized businesses with key resources for exporting, including a directory of contacts, websites, best practices and other helpful information. The 2016 Florida Export Guide is an indispensable tool for companies who are new-to-export as well as seasoned exporters. To receive a copy of the Guide, visit your local Florida trade office or download the digital version, which is available in both English and Spanish. To view the full press release, click here. Enterprise Florida Trade Events   (Save the Date) Exhibiting at Electronica Webinar August 10, 2016 Time TBD Make Electronica work for you! Electronica 2016 is the leading international trade fair for electronic components, systems or applications. Electronica 2016 serves as the benchmark of the electronics industry and attracts expert knowledge, from developers and company executives. Representatives from Enterprise Florida and Messe Munchen will provide valuable information regarding exhibiting at the show and how companies can apply for a grant to offset exhibition expenses. For further information, please contact: Max Stewart Enterprise Florida Inc. mstewart@enterpriseflorida.com SMM Hamburg September 6-9, 2016 Hamburg, Germany Enterprise Florida (EFI) is pleased to announce its support for SMM Hamburg. The bi-annual SMM Hamburg is the world’s largest B2B international trade show for the commercial marine industry. In 2014, SMM Hamburg featured over two thousand exhibitors, and fifty thousand visitors. Independent space at SMM Hamburg is virtually sold out however Enterprise Florida is working with the U.S. show organizer to secure space for Florida companies within the USA Pavilion. This is a U.S. Department of Commerce certified event meaning on-site Commerce staff will provide support to all U.S. exhibitors. Trade Grants are available to help offset your exhibition cost in this show. Please let EFI know if you wish to receive more details on this opportunity. For further information, please contact: Larry Bernaski Enterprise Florida Inc. lbernaski@enterpriseflorida.com   Cannes Yachting Festival 2016 September 6-11, 2016 Cannes, France Europeans regard the Yachting Festival Cannes (Cannes International Boat Show) as the first boat show of the nautical season. It comes at an ideal time at the close of summer and attracts more than 50,000 boat owners and marine industry distributors looking for the latest in technology, innovation, luxury and performance. Coupled with the magical appeal of the French Riviera, it is no wonder that the show remains the premier boat show in all of Europe. In 2015, there were 496 exhibitors from 37 countries. In addition to a wide range of marine components and accessories, there were 579 yachts, 103 sailing boats, 38 multihulls and 132 boats over 20 meters in length on display. The show features three distinct exhibition areas offering boat builders, brokers and manufacturers of equipment and specialty items an optimum location. Boat builders and brokers have a further option to display in or out of water. Trade Grants are available to help offset your exhibition cost in this show. Please let EFI know if you wish to receive more details on this opportunity. For further information, please contact: Larry Bernaski Enterprise Florida Inc. lbernaski@enterpriseflorida.com   SemiCon 2016 Themed Florida Pavilion September 7-9, 2016 Taipei, Taiwan Do you want  to showcase your company on the international semiconductor stage with countries like Germany, Holland and Korea? SEMICON Taiwan 2016 annually attracts more than 3,300 attendees representing lithography, 3D IC, advanced packaging, memory, IC design, IoT, MEMS, smart manufacturing, high-tech facility, materials and more. Theme pavilions and country pavilions can provide you with a blueprint for regional markets and new business opportunities for Taiwan’s procurement community. Enterprise Florida (EFI) will recruit Florida companies to join the first ever Florida pavilion for the semiconductor and advanced manufacturing community. Florida will be the only state in the United States with a themed state pavilion. Contact EFI if your company would like to stand out and participate in the the largest semiconductor show in Asia. Trade Grants are available to help offset your exhibition cost in this show. Please let EFI know if you wish to receive more details on this opportunity. For further information, please contact: Max Stewart Enterprise Florida Inc. mstewart@enterpriseflorida.com Andrea Moore Enterprise Florida Inc. amoore@enterpriseflorida.com GITEX Technology Week October 16-20, 2016 Dubai, United Arab Emirates Launched in 1981, GITEX is the ICT business gateway to the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia Region (MEASA). Its 36th edition is set to redefine technology for business, with the most global startup movement, new sectors in VR, AR, AI, Wearables, Smart Living and Digital Marketing. In 2015, 4,200 sponsors and exhibitors from 130 countries mingled with 146,000 visitors from 144 countries for gathering and exchanging information on the latest technologies in the many verticals that shape our world. The top five sectors at GITEX are retail, banking & finance, oil & gas, government and education. Enterprise Florida, Inc. invites you to exhibit in the Enterprise Florida section of the USA Pavilion. Florida exhibitors wishing to have a larger footprint can also opt for a customized space in other section of this gateway show. Negotiated hotel space for Enterprise Florida exhibitors is also available. Trade Grants are available to help offset your exhibition cost in this show. Please let EFI know if you wish to receive more details on this opportunity. For further information, please contact: Andrea Moore Enterprise Florida Inc. amoore@enterpriseflorida.com Electronica 2016 November 8-11, 2016 Messe München, Germany Electronica 2016 is the leading international trade fair for electronic components, systems or applications.  Electronica 2016 serves as the benchmark of the electronics industry and attracts expert knowledge, from developers and company executives. For Florida technology and electronic component companies, this is your chance to be a part of the largest trade fair in the world. Enterprise Florida has secured space in the U.S. pavilion for companies wishing to exhibit at Electronica 2016. Florida exhibitors can choose from a variety of exhibition booth options that fit your needs. This show is especially suited for technology companies in: Automotive Electronic displays Embedded systems Semiconductors Test and measurement equipment Sensors Power supplies Trade Grants are available to help offset your exhibition cost in this show. Please let EFI know if you wish to receive more details on this opportunity. For further information, please contact: Max Stewart Enterprise Florida mstewart@enterpriseflorida.com Andrea Moore Enterprise Florida Inc. amoore@enterpriseflorida.com MEDICA 2016 November 14-17, 2016 Dusseldorf, Germany   MEDICA, the premiere global Life Sciences/Medical trade show takes place annually in Düsseldorf, Germany. This November 14-17, 2016, many of Florida’s top medical companies will promote their goods and services from the Florida Pavilion for the 21st consecutive year. MEDICA 2015 featured 5,000 exhibitors, two-thirds of them from abroad. The show attracted 130,000 visitors from nearly 120 countries; 40% were from countries other than Germany. In fact, with 500 exhibiting companies from the United States and 45 exhibiting companies from Florida, MEDICA continues to set records. A particularly high percentage of visitors come from overseas markets such as Asia, Australia, North Africa, Latin America, and from Arab countries. MEDICA visitors who attend the show are professionals there to make significant buying decisions. Trade Grants are available to help offset your exhibition cost in this show. Please let EFI know if you wish to receive more details on this opportunity. For further information, please contact: Michael Schiffhauer Enterprise Florida Inc. mschiffhauer@enterpriseflorida.com World Bank PSLO Events (New) Agriculture Sector Mission November 14-16, 2016 Washington D.C. November 17, 2016 Chicago, Illinois The World Bank's Private Sector Liaison Officers (PSLO) Network invites you to participate in a joint mission involving companies from Canada, United States, Austria, Spain and other countries on an agriculture sector focused mission to the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Asian Development Bank and Millennium Challenge Corporation in Washington, DC from November 14th – 16th, 2016 with an optional day in Chicago on November 17th, 2016. The mission is intended for private sector, both suppliers and consultants, interested in learning about business opportunities in the agriculture sector funded by the World Bank Group, Inter-American Development Bank, Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Asian Development Bank. This is a unique opportunity to network with companies and potential partners from around the world and at the same time, learn about opportunities in the environmental sector from the World Bank and other institutions. For further information, please contact: Kristy Kunimoto Government of Alberta, Canada kristy.kunimoto@gov.ab.ca Partner Trade Events ECCN Classification Workshop July 29, 2016 Melbourne, Florida   Come join the Space Coast World Trade Council for a trip made simplified through the sometimes daunting process of  ECCN and commodity classification. Participants will learn how to classify commodities on the CCL (Commerce Control List) to determine licensing, reasons for export control, commodity jurisdiction, ITAR munitions list categories and HTSUS. Actual classification questions from the recent CBP Broker License Exam will be posed to attendees along with real life Commodity Jurisdiction and ECCN look up test cases governing commerce and state licensing as the case may be. This workshop is presented by Bureau of Census and other experts.   (New) 2016 SMART Community Exchange U.S. Global Summit August 19, 2016 Orlando, Florida Whether you are an expert or new to SMART Community Development, SMART Tech or CLEAN Tech, you'll leave this event ready for action! You will come face-to-face with those that are succeeding in SMART Community Development projects and you'll be directly connected to business and funding opportunities. Sessions will include information about international smart communities, lessons learned, access to funding, investing in innovation, partner projects, marketing innovation and import and export.   The Water Expo (5th Edition) August 31 - September 1, 2016 Miami, Florida The Water Expo Trade Show & Conference is where you connect with eastern USA, Florida, Latin American & Caribbean companies in the water industry. Forty countries under one roof will be represented. The conference is for water quality, wastewater, environmental services & irrigation companies. The event showcases cutting-edge technologies, products, services, know-how and educational workshops. For complete information, visit www.TheWaterExpo.com. Contact: Jose A Garcia at mail@TheWaterExpo.com or call 305.412.EXPO (3976) for more information. 8th International Rubber Glove Conference & Exhibition (IRGCE) 2016 September 6-8, 2016 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The 8th IRGCE 2016 is organized by the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (MARGMA) and co-hosted by the Malaysian Export Promotion Council (MREPC). The event is supported by the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC), Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) and Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE). IRGCE is the world’s largest exhibition of rubber gloves. It is a must attend event for manufacturers, importers/buyers, financiers, material suppliers, traders/distributors, researchers, investors and consumers in the rubber glove industry.   Colombia Bring It On: IT, Digital Media & Audio Visual Business Matchmaking Forum September 8-9, 2016 Hollywood, Florida ProColombia along with the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications invites you to be part of this exclusive event and explore business and investment opportunities through one-on-one meetings with Colombia’s top companies in Software, IT, Audiovisual and Digital Media, including video games, mobile and web, audiovisual productions and more. More than 100 providers from Colombia will be showcasing their projects, talent and opportunities in prearranged meetings with qualified companies from the United States, Canada and Mexico. For more information call 305-374-3144. HealthcareBuild Environment Asia (HBE Asia) September 20-22, 2016 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia HBE Asia is an annual conference, exhibition and networking summit. This summit is designed to be a multi-disciplinary environment that inspires health, construction and technology stakeholders to evoke change for the advancement of a better delivery of healthcare. HBE Asia focuses on the use of technology and the physical environment that positively affects healing and promotes well-being. HBE Asia stakeholders will be presented with insightful strategies, latest updates and opportunities on investments, operations and technologies in hospital and healthcare outside of hospitals to effectively capitalize on the changing healthcare demands in Southeast Asia and ensure preparedness for tomorrow’s healthcare needs. HBE Asia provides businesses opportunities to showcase products & solutions relevant to the in healthcare industry. (Updated) 39th Annual Joint Meeting of the Japan-U.S. Southeast and Southeast U.S.-Japan Association September 20-22, 2016 Tokyo, Japan Register now as a Florida Delegate to the 39th Annual Joint Meeting of the Japan-U.S. Southeast & Southeast U.S. Japan Associations! This prestigious annual event will be held in Tokyo, Japan September 20-22, 2016 at the Imperial Hotel. Senior officials of both Japan and the U.S. will attend; total attendance is projected at approximately 350-400 participants. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy will serve as a keynote speaker this year, and SEUS/Japan is co-organizing a Florida-Japan Business Workshop with the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), the Consulate General of Japan in Miami and EFI focused on the aerospace/aviation sector, to be held on September 20th from 10 am-2 pm at JETRO headquarters in Tokyo. Florida Delegation will hold its annual meeting of members the same day from 4:30 – 5:30 pm. The meeting will provide a unique opportunity for delegates to renew, or develop business ties with Japan’s top business and economic development leaders. For more info, visit us online at www.fl-seusjapan.org.   ZUCHEX 2016 September 22-25, 2016 Istanbul, Turkey Taking place from September 22-25, 2016 at the TUYAP Exhibition and Congress Center Istanbul, ZUCHEX 2016 will be the 27th edition of this highly successful series. ZUCHEX will once again provide both manufacturers and suppliers of housewares and gift products, a cost effective forum to make new sales whilst giving retailers, wholesalers and distributors, a unique sourcing opportunity to view and compare those new designs and product innovations which will meet future consumer tastes and boost their future sales. For this particular exhibition, the Ministry of Economy is organizing a "Buyers Mission Program". Companies attending the Mission will get the opportunity to receive briefings, hold bilateral business meetings and attend tours of the production facilities and accommodation. Please download the application form from www.ekonomi.gov.tr or contact miami@economy.gov.tr.   20th Americas Food and Beverage Show September 26-27, 2016 Miami Beach, Florida The Americas Food & Beverage Show is the Western Hemisphere’s most established and respected food and beverage show, providing unparalleled opportunities to discover new products, ideas and innovations around the world. If you make, manufacture or distribute any products or service for the food and beverage industry, this is your opportunity to get up close and personal with the buyers that you need to meet. With more than 11,500 industry professionals in attendance, you will be only a handshake away from the buyer with the final purchase authority. Enjoy and taste more than 11,000 unique flavors and products from 32 countries around the world celebrating the very best in the food and beverage industry. The show will include educational seminars, new products showcase, Beverages Pavilion, Florida Pavilion and International Pavilions for Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey and USA. (New) 4th Annual Private Wealth Latin America & The Caribbean Forum October 18-19, 2016 Miami, Florida The 4th Annual Private Wealth Latin America and the Caribbean Forum in Miami is the leading meeting for family offices, wealth managers, private banks and asset managers in the region and the flagship meeting of the private wealth series. The Private Wealth Latin America and the Caribbean Forum is a two-day summit providing updated peer education on asset allocation, asset protection, private client management, offshore structuring, tax, trust and estate planning. More than 500 attendees including experts on the private client landscape from around Latin America and the Caribbean, with more than 30 countries represented, including more than 100 members of a world class speaker faculty are expected to attend the event.   (New) Trade, Investment and Business Development Mission to Nigeria February 15-25, 2017 Benin City and Abuja, Nigeria The Trade, Investment and Business Development Mission to Nigeria is designed to increase investment opportunities, business networking and bi-lateral trade activities between the Miami-Dade County community and the Nigerian people. The mission is coordinated in concert with the Miami Gardens Chamber of Commerce, the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce, the Africa Trade Development Center (ATDC) with support from the office of Economic Development & International Trade, Department of Regulatory & Economic Resources and Miami-Dade County. The mission is expected to facilitate development in both public and private (agriculture, energy, mining, telecommunications, construction & engineering, transportation, waste management) sectors in the South Florida community and Nigeria. The deadline to register is September 2, 2016.